Five foodie obsessions with chef Fabrice Hardel

The Westgate chef's influenced by his Normandy roots, but his palate goes global

‘No, it does not come in a bread bowl,” a laughing Fabrice Hardel says about the Westgate Room’s San Francisco-style seafood chowder.

The executive chef’s best-selling soup has a creamy base studded with clams, bay scallops, shrimp, lobster and pancetta, plus a light touch of truffle oil. It combines elements the Normandy-born Hardel grew up with — namely seafood and cream.

Yet his inspiration looks beyond France.

While he may cook in the royal chateau-inspired Westgate Hotel downtown — a florid, tapestried environment so French you want to sing “La Vie En Rose” by its Steinway piano — Hardel says he cooks globally.

“I’m open, especially to Asian-style and South American (cuisines), because my wife is from Ecuador.”

Here, Hardel shares some influences in this installment of Five Foodie Obsessions.

“El Bulli 2003-2004,” book by Ferran Adrià, Juli Soler, Albert Adrià

No, Hardel doesn’t do much molecular gastronomy at the Westgate Room, not like Ferran Adrià did at his former El Bulli restaurant in Spain. “They (did) a 20-course tasting menu, that’s all they (did),” says an admiring Hardel. “At the Westgate, we have the dining room, the Plaza Bar, afternoon teas (in the lobby on weekends), room service, and we’re open breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s very difficult to be consistent at it.”

The Bocuse d’Or

Since 1987, this lengthy cooking competition has pitted national teams against each other. “For me it’s really the biggest foodie competition there is,” says Hardel. The Bocuse d’Or takes place in Lyon, France (near the birthplace of esteemed chef Paul Bocuse, the contest’s namesake), Jan. 29-30. Watch it online at bocusedor.com.

Diver scallops

Hardel’s love of scallops has to do with his Normandy roots. “We have the best scallops in France. Here you can get them all year long. And in France you have a season during the fall and winter. It’s like waiting for football. You wait all summer until the scallops come. They are so buttery, they melt in your mouth. They’re one of my best ingredients to work with.”

His Masahiro knife

Twenty-three years ago, Hardel’s parents bought him tools for his apprenticeship. His father was a carpenter, and his mother an accountant. They didn’t really understand why he wanted to work in kitchens, he says. But they knew he could travel, have a good job, and move up the ranks. “This is the chef knife from my apprenticeship. I’ve taken it to different continents. It’s like the most basic tool, but you need it to cook.”

Molecular gastronomy

Also called “modernist cuisine,” Hardel is fascinated by experimental lab techniques used in kitchens like Denmark’s Noma. He keeps up with these cooking methods on
ChefTalk.com
, where his peers post pictures. “Because people just come up with things you think you could never do. Ten years ago people would tell you you’re crazy. Now you have a special blender to emulsify oil with water.”